The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net OPPOSITION leader Perry Christie slammed the FNM's campaign slogan at a rally over the weekend, claiming all the governing party has delivered in the past five years is record levels of debt. After expressing his support for PLP candidate Cleola Hamilton, Mr Christie told the crowd at the party's South Beach headquarters opening that the FNM is "out of touch" with reality. "The FNM slogan is 'We Deliver'. Can you imagine that, South Beach? How out of touch do you have to be, to be surrounded by piles of rubble and closed roads and closed businesses, and still come up with a slogan like that?" he asked supporters. Mr Christie was referring to the ongoing New Providence Infrastructure Improvement Project (NPIIP), the cost of which has jumped to more than $200 million after an additional $65 million had to be borrowed from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in what Mr Christie called one of the "worst cost overruns in the history of he Bahamas". He said: "I'll tell you what they've delivered; terrible incompetence! Endless delays! Missing accounts! Shady back-room deals, and no end in sight!" He said the FNM delivered for foreign contractors and special interests, but not Bahamians. Mr Christie claimed the FNM added insult to injury, by advising the public about the additional loan "like it's no big deal whatsoever". "As if adding nearly one hundred million dollars to the national debt is no big thing. As if having been caught violating the specific terms of international agreements is no big thing. Do you know how much work we're going to have to do to clean up after them, South Beach?" Mr Christie said the money could have been put to better use in other critical areas such as education, training, and initiatives that aim to steer young people away from a life of crime.